Photoshop CC - a warning

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I recently signed up for Photoshop CC. After the installation, I had to replace my graphics card because the drivers were not supported and would not operate some PS CC graphics enhancements (smart sharpening, etc). I purchased and installed a new Gigabyte AMD HD7770 as per the list of Adobe supported cards. The latest drivers have been installed (Windows 7 64 bit).</p>

<p>I am now getting a message - "PS has given up waiting for an assessment of the graphics display driver. Enhancements that use the graphics hardware have been disabled. Check the manufacturer's website site for the latest software."</p>

<p>So despite buying a new card and diligently following the PS CC requirements, there are still functionality problems.</p>

<p>There is no mention of this graphics card requirement on the Adobe PS CC sign up web page. The snag is that you have to know that you are going to have a problem in the first place in order to go looking for a solution.</p>

<p>You can find what cards are supported at: http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html</p>

<p>If you try to get post-purchase support from Adobe, you end up in a user forum where your question may or may not be answered. And who is to say the respondents know what they are talking about anyway? I want expert advice from the product maker and I am entitled to it.</p>

<p>So currently, until someone kindly answers my Adobe "Support Forum" question, I am paying for features that I cannot access despite having gone to the expense of purchasing a new card and following the PS CC requirements to the letter.</p>

<p>This really is substandard service. The lack of critical pre-purchase information and lack of post-purchase support shows a high level of disregard for customers. It is very frustrating and annoying.</p>

<p > </p>

<p>Be patient. It may take a few days, but all of my questions on the Adobe forum have been answered with a viable solution, either by another member or a technician from Adobe.</p>

<p>It helps if you describe the situation you experience carefully and accurately. What is the nature of your problem (e.g., what features are you denied)? What is your operating system and revision? What video card drivers are you using? How much RAM do you have installed?</p>

<p>There are many variables beyond the control of Adobe or your video card manufacturer (which is another source you should approach), especially with a Windows machine, which allows you to download and use practically any software (or malware) in existence. (I'm not knocking Windows. That's all I've ever used up to now.) I have beefs with Adobe too, but support is not among them.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks Edward. However, one would assume that by adhering to the advisory below, there should be no problem. Sadly, this isn't the case.</p>

<p>"Adobe tested laptop and desktop versions of the following cards. Be sure to download the latest driver for your specific model. (Laptop and desktop versions have slightly different names.)<br>

<strong>nVidia GeForce</strong> 8000, 9000, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 series<br>

<strong>nVidia Quadro</strong> 400, 600, 2000, 4000 (Mac & Win), CX, 5000, 6000, K600, K2000, K4000, K5000 (Windows & Mac OS)<br>

<strong>AMD/ATI Radeon</strong> 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000 series<br>

<strong>AMD/ATI FirePro</strong> 3800, 4800, 5800, 7800, 8800, 9800, 3900, 4900, 5900, 7900<br>

<strong>AMD/ATI FireGL</strong> W5000, W7000, W8000<br>

<strong>Intel Intel HD Graphics, Intel HD Graphics</strong> P3000, Intel HD Graphics P4000, Intel® HD Graphics P4600/P4700"</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"I want expert advice from the product maker and I am entitled to it."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Actually, no you're not - not unless you're contractually entitled to it, and then only if it's offered and available in the first place.</p>

<p>But that's irrelevant - I know from experience that the folk who contribute their knowledge on the Adobe forums have more Real World knowledge <em>by far</em> than you'd get from Adobe.</p>

<p>If you're using the Gigabyte Catalyst, uninstall it and try the latest AMD Catalyst.</p>

<p>If you're using the AMD Catalyst, uninstall it and try the latest Gigabyte Catalyst.</p>

<p>Unfortunately you made a poor choice of brand, which is unfortunately very easy to do, so it's hard to say where exactly the problem lies. It could be out-of-date drivers, it could be out-of-spec hardware (which Gigabyte is rather notorious for), or it could be an issue internal to Photoshop. It could also potentially be a firmware issue; check with Gigabyte to see if there's an update available for that card.</p>

<p>@ Colin Mattson. Thanks for the useful information Colin. I will follow it up. I chose the AMD card because (ironically) I was having problems with NVidia drivers for the previous card.<br>

@ Kevin Reeder. I beg to differ. Under Australian consumer law, I am. This is not a matter of advice on how to use the product. It is about how to make the product fundamentally function as advertised.</p>

<p>Sorry, but Colin's advice won't bring you much. There is no such thing as the Gigabyte Catalyst driver, only the AMD ones. I'm quite sure Gigabyte has nothing notorious about "out of spec hardware" (and I've seen lots of hardware as it's an industry I work in). Yes, they ship factory overclocked videocards, but this is considered a feature, and they supply warranty on it. Plus, no indication otherwise that the card isn't working, so making this into a Gigabyte/AMD issue makes no sense. Frankly, the blame here is simply on Adobe.</p>

<p>Which videocard did you have installed prior, and did you remove the drivers for that one before installing the new card? Plus, in Photoshop did you try to reset all settings to default (as per the section called "Quick GPU troubleshooting steps" in the FAQ you linked to) ?</p>

<p><br>

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@ Wouter. Thanks for your response. Prior to installing the AMD card, I removed every trace of the old Nvidia drivers and other related software including an independent registry sweep and deleting all the Nvidia folders on the hdd.</p>

<p>I have altered various settings in the PS CC Preferences, including resetting to the defaults and changed the scratch disc location to a separate HDD a few times. The previous PS error messages have stopped - but I am unsure exactly what the reason is.</p>

<p>However, now when I open an NEF file in PS from Bridge/ACR and try to use routines such as smart sharpening or camera shake adjustment, PS either crashes or the "Use Open CL" option under "Advanced Processor Settings" is greyed out and not accessible. <br /> <br>

It seems that Bridge CC is acquiring a very large slab of motherboard RAM which is then unavailable to PS CC if the file opening sequence is Bridge>ACR>PS. Interestingly, if you open Bridge and PS independently and then open a file Bridge>ACR>PS, PS has enough RAM to maintain "Advanced Processor Settings" "Use Open CL".</p>

<p>To be quite honest, I am pretty well finished with this cloud thing. As previously stated, I have followed the Adobe guidelines wrt graphics cards diligently. To have to pay Adobe for the privilege of being a beta tester and wasting my time is pretzel logic. The few new features in PS CC that were of interest to me really aren't worth the trouble and expense it is causing. I much prefer to put my energies into the camera end of the imaging process.</p>

<p > </p>

<p>Yes Phil, your comment is noted. Thanks. A good fallback. Unfortunately, if raw file formats change, Adobe may not support them in PS6 ACR. For example - Nikon D800 NEFs in older PS versions.</p>

<p>Anyway we will continue on, hoping that one day a small, ambitious coding cooperative will do the world a favour and develop a crowd funded competitor to PS.<br>

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<p>Given the number of emails I am getting from Adobe to try to get me to take out a subscription for PS CC I am guessing that maybe it is not selling as well as they thought it would?</p>

<p>As my desktop died last week, I have gone back to an old XP machine and put a copy of PS CS2 on it and really for my requirements it does everything I need. If I need to process RAW then I use the dng converter, and go and have a coffee while it does it's thing.</p>

<p>And Ford, when this crowd funding thing happens give me a shout I am in!</p>

<p>Regards<br>

Jim</p>

<p>Glad to hear you found a solution that works for you Jim.</p>

<p>I persisted with PS CC for a while but found it to be too wobbly and woefully unreliable even with 12Gb of RAM and a new graphics card. Bridge absolutely mauls the RAM. To get support is almost as onerous as undertaking a PhD and it shouldn't be like that. Many people are content with the CC offering but I also know many who aren't. PS is truly a best of breed but this CC thing is a mongrel wearing a cravat.</p>

<p>I won't be renewing the PS CC subscription and will go the dng route when it becomes necessary. I am reminded of the fate of Nortons/Symantech - once the bees knees in antivirus software. It got too bloated, resource hungry and expensive. Now they piggie-back it with other s/w to try and stay relevant.</p>

<p>Regards<br>

Ford</p>